Article
The Determinants of the Development of Russian Assistive Technologies Market: Analysis of Experts’ Interviews
Not all people with disabilities are provided with assistive technologies and devices (ATD) they need. The Russian researchers appeal to the development of assistive technologies, however, focus only on one specific social objective of ATD provision or on engineering, economic and production aspects of the problem. This study identifies the key determinants of the development of the assistive technologies market in Russia and trends over the next 10–15 years. We conducted a qualitative study using a grounded theory based on open and axial coding procedure. We collected data using semi-structured interviews with 12 experts recruited through snowball sampling with multiple entry points. The results show that the focus on the development of individual rehabilitation programs, individual fitting of devices, the increasing demand for measures of medical and social support for people with disabilities create conditions for the growth of demand for ATD. Changes in the paying capacity of the population, the rules of budget financing, as well as the population's attitude towards the inclusion of people with disabilities in everyday activities, the labor market, education will also cause changes in demand for ATD.
The book addresses one of the most relevant issues on the current social agenda – the building of an inclusive society. It covers income, gender and age equality, disability rights, immigrant and language minority rights, inclusive education, body positivity and animal rights. The book is based on up-to-date authentic texts (official documents, newspaper and magazine articles, public speeches) and contains a system of exercises aimed at enhancing communication skills, expanding vocabulary and developing analytical and critical thinking skills.
The book is targeted at graduate students of the foreign language faculties.
The approaches to the understanding of successful and sustainable development of the society are changing before our eyes. The focus shifts from the economic indicators showing the welfare of the state, to measuring of the subjective indicators of happiness that reflect the individual's subjective well-being. The paper analyzes the level of life satisfaction according to age in different societies. The relationship between the degree of development of inclusive institutions and the satisfaction with life is revealed.
This article presents an overview of the rhetoric and main discourses presented in the sphere of social policy and social services provided in Russia especially with regards to social inclusion of migrants. Inclusion policies in schools for children from migrant families are described and contrasted with lack of developments in police practices. A case study of two social service organizations in one of the regions in Privolzhsky Federal District is presented in order to analyze the micro-level of social policy and to find out whether their practices display inclusive culture.
We investigate alcohol consumption as one of the main factors contributing to variation in the gender gap in life expectancy in the Russian regions. We consider the socioeconomic indicators and mortality coefficients that enable us to capture the causes of death related primarily to alcohol abuse and smoking. We assume that macroeconomic situation, coupled with alcohol consumption are substantial determinants of the gender gap in life expectancy in the Russian regions. A panel data analysis confirms that alcohol consumption has a significant influence on the gender gap in life expectancy and reduces the life expectancy of men first and foremost, as they are more inclined toward unhealthy behaviours. We have determined that employment and income support policies should be conducted in conjunction with the anti-alcohol policy. Social policy aimed at reducing alcohol consumption should be vigorously reinforced during an economic recovery.
Several approaches to the concept of fatherhood present in Western sociological tradition are analyzed and compared: biological determinism, social constructivism and biosocial theory. The problematics of fatherhood and men’s parental practices is marginalized in modern Russian social research devoted to family and this fact makes the traditional inequality in family relations, when the father’s role is considered secondary compared to that of mother, even stronger. However, in Western critical men’s studies several stages can be outlined: the development of “sex roles” paradigm (biological determinism), the emergence of the hegemonic masculinity concept, inter-disciplinary stage (biosocial theory). According to the approach of biological determinism, the role of a father is that of the patriarch, he continues the family line and serves as a model for his ascendants. Social constructivism looks into man’s functions in the family from the point of view of masculine pressure and establishing hegemony over a woman and children. Biosocial theory aims to unite the biological determinacy of fatherhood with social, cultural and personal context. It is shown that these approaches are directly connected with the level of the society development, marriage and family perceptions, the level of egality of gender order.